HIV&AIDS, Identity and the Body

Writers tend to concentrate more on the disease and the soul or spirit, and in so doing, often ignoring the body; yet, it is an important site for further analysis in cases of the HIV&AIDS scourge. The body is the primary signifier of a person‘s identity and in its struggle with the virus it is tormented, ravaged and always under constant attack. It is the body that an individual tries to salvage in order to save his identity and sanity in the face of the scourge.  The research aims at taking a closer look at the nexus between the virus, identity and the body in the two texts The Haunted Trail by Phillip Chidavaenzi and Unlucky in love by Tendai Westerhoff.